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Dell vs. Ebay vs. Store

post #1 of 9
10/16/06 at 7:27pm
Thread Starter 
I did buy my Dell 9300 from a store this year. It was stolen late Friday night http://www.notebookforums.com/thread178054.html . If it is not found within two weeks I will buy another one. Where is it best to purchase one? I can understand Ebay's cost less, but who can you trust. When I purchased it out the box from the store, I called Dell and noticed the store already started the 1 year warranty two months ago. What do you prefer?
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post #2 of 9
10/16/06 at 7:29pm
I prefer to do business directly with the manufacturer when possible. That way there's no middleman involved if there is a problem.
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post #3 of 9
10/17/06 at 4:15am
eBay - study seller's history, make sure the laptop is new and that the warranty is transferrable. You can ask the seller for the service tag and check the product out at support.dell.com.

Store - I usually stay away from them, simply because of lack of configurability.

Manufacturer - Well, I bought mine directly from Dell, as do most other people.

For a seller like Dell, which depends heavily on online sales, going with them is usually the best option. However, if you need to save money, don't discount eBay. I've bought 3 laptops from eBay, only one of which was a Dell, and have never had a problem with any of them.

Regards,

zakaluka2.
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post #4 of 9
10/17/06 at 6:01am
also, keep in mind that from the manufacturer, you can sometimes get discounts in their outlets. i know dell and lenovo have outlets, but not sure about other ones. just remember that they will probably be refurbished and that it is not necessarily customizable.
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post #5 of 9
10/18/06 at 7:05pm
Dell Outlet is also a great resource to notebook buying since you can get top of the line notebooks at bargain prices.
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post #6 of 9
10/18/06 at 7:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DELL-Machina
Dell Outlet is also a great resource to notebook buying since you can get top of the line notebooks at bargain prices.

I'd go with this gentlemans suggestion.
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post #7 of 9
10/20/06 at 2:04am
yeah, Dell's outlet is pretty awesome. I bought my old Inspiron 8200 from the Outlet and the ONLY thing that ever quit on it was the hard drive.
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post #8 of 9
10/24/06 at 8:36pm
i got my dell from ebay brand new in box and not refurbished. If you can find a REPUTABLE dealer on ebay i recommend it. Because i got my system at an incredible bargain. Otherwise if you're looking for a cheap dell definately check out the dell outlet store. My .02
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post #9 of 9
10/26/06 at 6:07am
i've had experiences with all three. it just depends. i will also vote dell-machina's recommendation to look at the refurbies.

with that said, if you missed out on a great coupon deal from dell, you may want to look at ebay since there are plenty who scoop coupons up and then buy bunch of computers. I bought my 700m that way without issues. again caveat and due care as others recommended. i also bought my dell desktop on craigslist locally without issue. Bought it new from someone who got a good coupon deal which i missed.

stores can be good as well as dell, but no necessarily if you want the flexibility of customizing it when you purchase it. the same goes true with the dell refurbies. just be informed of return/warranty/exchange policies of the store.

i don't think buying from a retailer versus dell has much difference except the last point about customization when ordering is concerned; however, that may not be an issue, if you do not have any issues with buying parts like memory, hard drives, or optical drives etc on your own and installing them yourself.

just compare, and do what is comfortable for you and your wallet. Only you can decide on what you are comfortable doing.
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